An Evaluation of Ready-to-Cook Dalia Mixes Formulated for Preschool Children

Protein-energy malnutrition among children is the major health challenges in developing countries [1]. This nutrition problem is ascribed to the inappropriate complementary feeding practices, low nutritional quality of traditional complementary foods and high cost of quality protein-based complementary foods [2]. It is evidence that high prevalence of deaths each year among children aged less than five years old in the developing world is associated with malnutrition [3]. The interaction of poverty, poor health and poor complementary feeding practices has a multiplier effect on the general welfare of the children population and also contributes significantly towards growth retardation, poor cognitive development, illness and death amongst children in developing countries [4, 5]. It is well known that high cost of fortified nutritious proprietary complementary foods in many parts of developing countries is always beyond the reach of most families [6]. Hence many families depend on inadequately processed and lowquality traditional complementary foods to wean their children. Fortified nutritious commercial complementary foods are unavailable especially in the rural areas and where available, they are often too expensive and beyond the reach of most of families in developing countries. Therefore, most complementary foods used are locally produced and based on local staple foods, usually cereals that are processed into porridges. Among the other determinants of malnutrition, introduction of supplementary feeding with proper time, quality and quantity plays an important role. Children are facing an absence of healthy food options, or in ‘food swamps’, confronted with an abundance of low-quality food with high-calorie, low-nutrient, processed foods cause the greatest risk of all forms of malnutrition. The use of local foods formulated in the home and guided by the following principles i.e. high nutritional value to supplement breastfeeding, acceptability, low price and use of local food items [7, 8]. So that young children’s mothers can formulate the food at their home level and can feed the child without disturbing the child’s daily food consumption pattern. To combat the nutritional problem, viable and sustainable strategies like multi-grain premixes as home-scale fortification were formulated incorporating locally available pulses, millets and oil seeds with the staple food by applying simple home-scale processing technologies. Dalia is made by milling or grinding the grains coarsely so that the refining process doesn’t occur making the food more nutritious. It is a traditional breakfast cereal of north India, usually prepared from wheat and generally consumed by infants, young children, elderly people, and health-conscious consumers. Multi-grain approach is a most common and convenient way of formulating the desired quality of formulations because of the supplementary effect of different nutrients from the combination of different grains making the end product more nutritious at the same time rich in other healthy constituents. Multi-grain foods often have three to five different grains but can have up to twelve different grains [9]. The addition of cereal, millets, pulses, and oilseed makes the dalia wholesome and rich in Abstract Multi-grain dalia premixes were formulated with an aim to provide proteincalorie rich food options for preschool children combating dual burden of malnutrition. Four types of dalia premixes were formulated from different proportion of grains. These premixes were evaluated for organoleptic parameters and the selected premix was evaluated for nutritional composition as well as shelf life. Results of organoleptic evaluation showed that all the dalia mixes were found to be well accepted and T2 was found to be the best and the values differ significantly (p<0.05) in all the parameters. Protein and energy content of dalia mix was estimated to be 17.24 percent and 381.37 kcal per 100g of premix and was rich in other parameters like fibre and minerals. Moisture content and peroxide value of developed premix though increased was within the permissible limit during 90 days of storage. Organoleptic evaluation of the formulated premix showed good acceptability scores across the storage period.